Neotropic post-dispersal seed predation

Abstract

The dynamics of seeds and seedlings determine much of plant community development after disturbance (Grubb 1977). For old field succession, whether in the temperate zone or in the Neotropics, such regeneration comes overwhelmingly from outside the field (Purata 1986, Uhl, Buschbacher and Serrao 1988, Myster 1993, Medellin and Gaona 1999) because few species sprout from remnant trees or leftover rootstocks (although some shrubs can recruit asexually: Miconia spp. in Neotropical fields [Myster 2004b] and Rhus spp. in temperate fields [Myster 1993]). Since most species depend on dispersed seeds for their recruitment, dispersal and the fate of seeds once they have landed in fields are of primary concern.